The Fighting Angel Crisis
by Onshu Bastille
Summary: Cut off from Soul Society and captured, Ichigo's friends fight through man-made shinigami to rescue their hero as their kidnapper enjoys the show..  One-shot, meant to be viewed as a "movie"


THE FIGHTING ANGEL CRISIS

The Hollow screeched as it bolted down the alleyway.

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro," The Hollow and everything within the circle froze instantly. There was a flash as Zangetsu slashed through cleanly. As soon as the ice shattered, the monster let out one more cry of pain before dissipating. There was a bit of frost on the surrounding buildings but otherwise, there wasn't any collateral damage.

"So you're saying that you haven't been able to contact Soul Society... Has that ever been a good thing?" Ichigo didn't seem too worried as Zangetsu wrapped itself. Rukia bit at her thumb as she stared at her phone. "What about Urahara?"

"He won't answer his damn phone," Rukia replied, furious at the shopkeeper. After trying a few more buttons, the petite shinigami gave up. She crossed her arms to think of what to do from there before reasoning that finding Hat-and-Clogs would have to come first on the off chance that he knows what's going on.

"Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki, yes?" An unfamiliar voice asked from behind.

* * *

><p>"Where are they?" Kon thought aloud, throwing his arms behind his head. As much as he preferred Ichigo's body to the stuffed animal, the two had been gone for quite a while, especially for chasing one Hollow. Ever since their adventure in Hueco Mundo, Kon had felt even more left out than usual.<p>

"Kurosaki?" A staticky voice asked. Kon turned to find what appeared to be a man in a full body suit like from some kind of scifi movie. His single visor glowed a vivid blue as he reached for his katana. The slick black armor almost looked like his skin as he slowly unsheathed the sword.

Another person in a similar suit, only with more red and no helmet walked into the line of sight. There was a scar that ran under both eyes and across the bridge of his nose. "Negative, that's the Mod-soul. Capture him anyway," The man in red ordered calmly before walking off.

"10-4," The soldier lunged instantly.

Launching himself backwards in the air to create a gap, Kon found the soldier already in the air as if having known that he would try that. The Mod-soul barely managed to kick the blade away and send the enemy spinning. There was the sound of electricity discharging when the body slammed into the building, but the soldier jumped up read to retaliate.

Kon shot up his hands in protest, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Can't we talk this out?"

The soldier responded with another lunge, bringing his sword down in a huge arc. With a side step, the Mod-soul was able to land another kick across the enemy's head, sending him crashing into the building. The impact crushed the building inward somewhat, but it still stood. There was a new found confidence in Kon as he stretched his legs.

More electricity could be heard as the soldier stood up, taking a fighting stance. As he stood there with his sword in front of him, the blade began to glow a bright blue. This time he only took one step and when he swung the katana, a huge wave of energy was unleashed; however it was too slow for the Mod-soul as he leapt out of the way, watching the slash slice through the building behind him. He couldn't help but feel like he recognized the attack.

"Ha! Is that the best you got?" Kon taunted before lunging in for the attack. When he kicked this time, he found the soldier to be even slower and more sluggish. The first kick knocked the blade from his hands and the second blasted through the soldier's body. Steel bits and wiring went everywhere as the body exploded into two pieces.

"A robot?" Kon leaned over and watched as the visor's light died. Remembering the other guy, the Mod-soul took off around the corner to see if he was still there. He found no one on the other side, but he could hear more staticky voices closing in. In an attempt to stay out of the line of site, Kon pressed against the wall, and he could hear them as they reached the body of the last soldier.

"0107 has been terminated by the target. Orders?" A voice spoke out loud. It was given commands but they weren't as loud. A few seconds later, the soldier responded with an "affirmative".

The wall suddenly exploded behind Kon, throwing him forward into the street, almost causing him to get hit by a car as it sped by. It wasn't that busy of a street, not many pedestrians but several cars speeding down the road. The Mod-soul found his footing on the median. This time three soldiers prepared to strike, each one looked exactly like the first.

"Why do I get the feeling you won't want to talk it over either?" Kon sighed.

The trio launched instantly, swords ready to strike down. As to throw them off, Kon jumped at them with a spin, knocking their swords back on the first kick, then a separate kick for each soldier, sending them one by one flying. Mindlessly, each one jumped back at the Mod-soul swinging. Kon danced between their attacks; they were far faster and stronger than normal humans but just not quite fast or strong enough... He managed to knock each one away again but this time when they retaliated, their swords were glowing. Each one swung so that the three waves of energy fused into one huge wave. Out of reflex, Kon jumped and kicked the blast to the side like it was nothing, but then exhaled, relieved after seeing it demolish the adjacent building. The three robots struggled to stand up.

"Stupid machines," The man in red spoke from the roof behind the robots, "You can't just expend all your energy like that..."

"Hey! Who're you? Why'd you want me so badly? How'd you know I'm a Mod-soul?" Kon asked.

"You talk too much," he pulled off what looked like a grenade from his belt, clicked a button causing it to blink, and tossed it in front of Kon who immediately tried to kick it away, but was too late. Upon exploding, it released a black net around him that instantly tightened. Every time Kon even slightly tried to break the net, it would release a surge throughout his body. He could only watch helplessly as the leader walked over to him and brought his boot down, hard.

* * *

><p>"Tessen-sama," An unarmed robot bowed before continuing, "First Captain has returned with the Mod-soul and wishes to know what you want to do with him."<p>

Sitting against the wall, Tessen gave it some thought before looking off into the shadows of the large room, "Are you hungry?"

Two glowing eyes opened, then came a growl. A clawed hand shot out and wrapped around the servant before pulling it in. The sound of crunching metal and discharging electricity broke the silence. A loud distorted voice murmured, "Not anymore."

"You know, you can't keep eating my servants," He gave a child-like smile.

"Sorry, Tomio. I can't smell the difference between the defected ones and your servants," The voice stated as the eyes dropped down to the floor, still fixated on the other. Then it gave what could only be described as a monstrous purr.

"Sokay, I know you didn't mean to," He laughed as he stood up to leave. "I guess I need to go tell them what to do..."

"Hey Tomio," The voice seemed bothered, "How's Shuichi?"

Tomio flinched at the question. He took a deep breath before turning back with a warm smile, "He's doing much better. Any day now..."

The monstrous purr started again, "I'm glad. I miss him."

"Yeah... We all do..." He mumbled with his head down as he left.

* * *

><p>Something woke Kon with a splash.<p>

"Where am I?" He jumped up only to find Chad and Orihime staring at him. Then he noticed the fact that they were on a beach, in front of a forest, but his eyes immediately went back to Inoue's chest. There wasn't much that could pull his attention away from them.

"Ichigo?" Chad could tell it wasn't him in the body but figured he should double check.

"No, it's Kon," The Mod-soul immediately responded, but then mentally kicked himself. He thought about the possibilities of pretending to be Kurosaki to get closer to Orihime; he'd just have to remember for next time.

"Do you know what's going on?" She asked while Chad helped him up.

"Nope, all I remember are these robot dudes attacking then this other dude, who I guess was the leader, attacked with this net... bomb... thingy... and well that's it," Kon looked around panicky, "Are we even still in Japan?"

"We don't know either," Orihime spoke as Chad nodded along, "We were on our way to Urahara's when we were jumped. We didn't see it coming... Anyway, what'd we do from here?"

"There," Chad pointed to something that was really tall and overlooking the area, possibly a tower.

"Here, lemme see if I can't get a better look of the area," Kon stretched his legs; they popped several times, probably because of the net from earlier. After that, he squatted down and launched himself high into the air. Once up, he could easily make out everything around them. He landed with a soft thud, "It's an island."

"An island? Did you see a way off?" Chad immediately asked.

"Well, it's pretty much all forest except for that tower and this huge building right below that," Kon scratched his head, "Maybe there's a way off there?"

"It's worth a shot," Orihime said before thinking out loud, "What if they got Kurosaki too?"

Chad's Brazo Derecha de Gigante suddenly formed as he stared into the forest. The other two readied themselves, they should've expected more soldiers from the beginning. Rustling could be heard as whoever closed in on them. Inoue shook a little; it wasn't so much whatever was about to appear from the bushes but rahter where Ichigo might be or if he was defeating whoever right now.

"Don't attack," Uryu announced himself before stepping out of the bushes. He was casually dressed like the rest so they all guess he was jumped as well, but he also looked like he had been here a while. "I was being followed, but I lost them a while back. They're persistent."

"Ishida!" Orihime hugged the Quincy tightly before bombarding him with questions, "Are you okay? How'd you get here? Do you know what's going on? Have you seen Kurosaki?"

"One question at a time, please," Uryu composed himself before continuing, "I was captured and sealed in a room with Ichigo and Rukia; however, I managed to escape and have been running from them ever since..."

"Where were you held? That tower?" Kon asked, crossing his arms, "And is there a way off this island?"

It took the Quincy a second take to realize that it was Kon and not Ichigo before he answered, "There's a helicopter pad just a few floors under the room I was in, but we need to figure out where we're at before we even think about trying something as reckless as that. The room itself is almost at the very top. The building below is some type of factory, probably where all the soldiers are coming from."

"Oh goody! You're already pooling you're information," A voice came from what appeared to be a flying TV. As it came closer, two people could be seen on the screen, one in the center doing the talking and another behind him, to his right that just stood there.

"I am Tomio Tessen, the owner of this island and the factory and all of the little robotic army blah blah blah," The one in the middle boasted, " This is Kansei, my personal bodyguard. Now, I suspect you wish to know what's going on, right? Well, I'll tell you. That's the point."

"How do we know we can trust anything you say?" Uryu immediately asked, unconvinced.

"Why is that they _always_ ask that? _'How do we know we can trust you?'_ Yawn!" Tomio propped his head up as if bored, "Here's the thing. I have this army that needs to be... uh... tested, and I want it done properly. The only thing you need to know is that I have provided you with a means to escape my island and everything you could possibly need. All you guys have to do is _try_ to escape while I send wave after wave of enemies at you. The idea is that by the time you reach the top of my tower, my drones will be too much for you, but in order to be fair, I will let you escape if you make it... IF you make it... 'Cause after all, if my soldiers can't stop you by that point then what good are they?"

"What about our other two friends?" The Quincy glared at the television.

Grinning wickedly, Tomio hissed, "You've gotta rescue them."

"Deal," A faint smile of confidence curled on Ishida's lips. The other three only nodded.

The tv started floating away, "Don't worry, we won't be _monitoring_ your every move or try to _trap_ you. I. Want. You. To. Come. Oh, and one more thing, try not to die too early on..."

Before they could retort, the TV was gone.

"He thinks this is a game," Chad spoke, ready to take off.

"One that he's so comfortable playing that he _has_ to make it challenging for himself," Uryu added, pushing up his glasses. Also eager to escape, he added, "We should probably get going. Keep an eye out for any enemies, but remember that it'll be more beneficial to outrun them instead of killing them, if he's just going to send better ones next."

And with that they were off.

* * *

><p>Having sent his message, Tomio rose to leave. He was so happy, he could barely contain it; everything was going smoothly. Before he could leave the room, the screen cut on and the First Captain seemed unnerved on the screen.<p>

"Tomio, where's Midori and Murasaki?" He seemed impatient.

"I don't know, I think they were going to play with our visitors," A smile spread across Tomio's face.

"What? The aren't ready for something like this!" The Captain turned away from the camera just before it cut off. This made Tomio frown slightly.

Turning to Kansei, he whined, "I wanted him to fight them here at the factory, not out there..." His bodyguard merely shrugged.

Tessen sighed and the two left. They made their way up the tower in silence. Every time they passed a soldier or group of soldiers, the robots would immediately side step out of the way and salute the two. The farther the two climbed, the darker, the more desolate, the gloomier the tower looked. Tomio made some comment about "brightening up the place" before reaching a door that read "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY", which translated into "NO ROBOTS". The two walked into the room which in turn caused the lights to come on.

In two separate containers against the wall, Ichigo and Rukia slept.

* * *

><p>The group was running through the forest quickly but cautiously. They didn't want to expend too much energy just running, but at the same time, the faster they reached the tower, the easier it would be. Kon was constantly ahead of the group due to his super legs while Uryu used hirenkyaku to make sure no one snuck up from behind or from the sides. So far all the soldiers they had found were easy to outmaneuver.<p>

"Company," Uryu readied his bow, "Not soldiers. They feel like..."

A barrage of green and purple energy arrows came out of nowhere, destroying everything in their wake.

Kon managed to jump away in time while Chad's El Directo blew away those coming his and Orihime's way, and Uryu simply dodged them.

"Quincies," Uryu stepped out in front of the group to see who they were up against. That piece of the forest had been completely destroyed, leaving a perforated clearing. Once the dust setteled, two figures could be made out, two girls—one dressed in white and green, the other in white and purple. Their white gloves and boots resembled those of the robot soldiers, but they were obviously human. The one wearing green had her hair pulled back in a ponytail while the other one in purple had pigtails; otherwise, they were a spitting image of each other.

"Hello! Midori and Murasaki, pleased to meet you!" The two announced cheerfully and perfectly synchronized. The group guessed that Midori was the one in green and Murasaki was in purple. Smiling innocently, they pulled back on their Quincy bows together like mirror images.

"I think I understand now," Ishida laughed under his face-palm, "This Tessen guy is copying our powers somehow. He gave you two Quincy powers, and all the soldiers, they can use an attack that resembles Ichigo's 'Getsuga Tensho'..."

"Awww!" The twins whined, "We wanted to be the ones to tell you that!"

Kon cleared his throat and stepped forward in an overly brave manner, "I will gladly take the burden of fighting these two hotties! Go on without me!" The twins let out a giggle that made the Mod-soul blush.

"No, I have my pride after all," Uryu readied his own arrow. With their faces turning more serious, Midori and Murasaki shifted their aim to the Quincy. Glancing back to his allies, he gave them a reassuring smile, "Go on, I'll catch up."

"But, but... hotties..." Kon started to protest before Chad and Orihime took off. Deciding it would be a better idea to follow them, he mentally slapped himself and ran off too. They all knew that there was no way to convince Uryu to back off now that his Quincy Pride had been addressed, and besides, if there was one of them who could catch up, it was him.

Uryu was surprised, having expected the two pseudo-Quincies to pursue the rest of the group. He reasoned that they were as eager to test their powers as he was. Simultaneously, the three released an arrow, the twins' arrows swished past either side of Uryu's head as he stood still while his arrow flew off right between the other two who also remained still.

The three shared a smirk.

With a flash, they each released a barrage of arrows, annihilating even more of the forest as they used hirenkyaku to escape each other's attacks. While blasting away, Uryu took note that the twins stayed together each step of the way, most likely to increase the width of their field of fire, but they left themselves open from behind.

"You call yourselves 'Quincies'?" Ishida taunted before disappearing to behind them.

"Nope," The two vanished, dodging his arrow. They reappeared on either side of the Quincy, flanking him. "We're better!"

Barely able to dodge the attack, Uryu watched as the green and purple arrow stabbed into each other and disintegrated. Their aim was perfect. Before he could retaliate, Midori was above him ready to fire. Dodging that one fairly effectively, he found Murasaki behind him with her own arrow ready. Somehow, he managed to dodge it as well only to find Midori ready again, this time the arrow nicked him. Next, Murasaki was waiting for him, though he was able to dodge her attack, but not without a scratch. Then before the Quincy could escape, both of the twins appeared in front of him, pinning him to the ground by an arrow in either shoulder.

"You're not very good are you?" Murasaki leaned over Uryu as he just stared at the two.

"He's pathetic, I don't know why everyone's so worked up about these guys," Midori aimed another arrow down, as if to finish the job.

Uryu's eyes hid under a glare on his glasses, "I fear that I underestimated you two. You're both actually pretty good... for half-assed rip-offs that is."

There was a flash and the next thing the twins knew, Ishida had freed himself and created a gap in between him and them. Upon landing, he dodged their predictable volley of arrows as if it were nothing. Again, he disappeared to behind them and again, they dodged this two arrows, but then this time when they flanked him, both of their arrows were destroyed by perfectly aimed blue arrows. Having been unable to even see his attack, the twins jumped away in disbelief. Before they could even pull back an arrow, the Quincy was behind them.

"Licht Regen," Uryu spoke calmly. Midori and Murasaki disappeared in the shower of blue arrows. A few secons later, the twins escaped the attack covered in scratches and with their clothes tattered here and there. They tried to create some distance between them and the Quincy, not that it would help.

"He's a meanie, sis," Murasaki pulled on her pigtails as her eyes watered.

"C'mon, ya big baby," Midori gave a reassuring smile as she helped her twin up. She dusted her off as if she just finished dressing her then patted her on the back. "Hey remember what Big Brother use to say..."

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Murasaki repeated, "'You don't have to win, just don't cry.'"

Uryu had originally planned to finish them off right there, but after over hearing them, he couldn't help but hesitate. Up until now they were simply Captains this madman's army. He began wondering if these guys really did just view it as one big game. There had to be another way besides fighting, maybe he could dishearten them from continuing. It was worth a try. Uryu wanted to escape, but he could never live down killing someone as naive as children.

Suddenly, red flashed, and the Quincy's instinct told him to jump away.

He managed to escape the first swing in time, but the second swing created a huge gash across his chest. Using hirenkyaku, Uryu backed up to see his new attacker. A man dressed in similar armor to the soldiers, only with red to break the monotone black; a scar ran across the bridge of his nose. What really caught his attention though was the fact that he was wielding two Seele Schneiders, both red.

His face was calm but focused.

"Brother!" Murasaki perked up instantly and moved to hug the newcomer.

"Stay back, you two," He stated blankly, "I'll take care of him."

Murasaki drooped a little, but Midori protested, "Hey! Don't give us that shit!"

"I'm Akei, First Captain," He ignored the other two altogether, "As of now, you are my opponent. This is my one and only demand."

"Uryu Ishida," The Quincy prepared another arrow, "And Quincy rip-offs don't get to make demands."

Staring down each other, Akei spoke under his breath, "At least we understand each other."

* * *

><p>Behind them, Chad, Orihime, and Kon could all feel the clash of energy between Uryu and whoever else just joined the fight. If they hadn't been so close to the factory, they would've turned back. Something told them that Ishida could handle himself as well, so they continued forward. They had done pretty well in terms of avoiding soldiers thus far.<p>

"Jeez, how much farther," Kon thought out loud as he ran at half-pace as to not leave the other two behind, but then he thought about something and dropped back to ask, "You said you were on the way to Urahara's?"

"Uh, yeah," Orihime explained, "He called us and said that he wanted to see us right away, and that it was important... I think he was going to warn us about Tessen..."

Chad nodded.

"Makes sense, I gue—" Kon was cut off by the sight of a grenade landing in front of them. The explosion wasn't close enough to hurt them, just make them slow down. Kon couldn't help but notice that the explosion resembled kido, and he began contemplating what Uryu mentioned—the copying of their powers—and wondered just how high of a kido spell they could duplicate from Rukia.

Several soldiers immediately began following the group, and they could tell they were an upgrade of whatever they'd been running from. Chad used his El Directo at the ground to cause it to cave in here and raise there as to slow the pursuers, but this time, the robots crossed it easily as they threw grenades at the group. Their aim wasn't the best, but Orihime did have to throw up her shield a couple of times. Then she got an idea, stopping suddenly, making the other two panic.

One of the robots chunked a grenade right at her, but using her, Inoue bounced it back right at the soldiers caught in mid jump. The explosion wiped out half of the pursuers, but the surviving ones didn't slow down.

"We can hurt them with their own attacks, right?" Orihime shrugged, hoping she was right. The other two were simply impressed at her plan as they kept running.

"We may have to start fighting," Chad stated, looking over his shoulder. If they were already upgraded to be able to keep up, then it wouldn't be long until they could stop them.

Skidding to a stop, Chad's arm released energy as it prepared to strike. The mindless soldiers lunged at him as if he had fallen... They evaporated in his blast... A few seconds later and the group was running once more.

Just ahead of them was the factory which looked bigger and bigger the closer they got. The walls were made of a slick steel and there didn't seem to be an entrance on the side they were on. Kon instantly shot up the side of the wall, but only made it roughly half way before the electrocution caused him to fall back down, his pride shattered.

"I don't think we can just climb up it," Orihime looked along the wall for any type of door or window while Chad just stared at the wall. Energy flared out of his arm again right before he slammed his fist into the walll to release another El Directo, forcing the steel inward. "What're you doing!" Orihime was more worried about her friend being electrocuted than getting inside.

And with the one strike, Chad punched a hole through. Staggering from the electricity, he took a step back to admire his work, "We needed a door." The busty teen immediately used Soten Kisshun to heal him before continuing.

"Why's it so dark in there?" Kon peered into the hole, seeing only complete darkness. Then something caught his eye, "Wait... I think I see light coming from a window or a door on the other side... This must be a storage room or something. Oh well, at least we're in."

Chad thanked Orihime, and then they entered the hole without hesitation, Kon leading the way confidently. The room was fairly large and open as far as they could tell, but they styed close together anyway as they worked their way to the opposite side.

Bright red eyes opened, watching the intruders from the shadows.

Suddenly, Orihime screamed as something lifted here into the shadows. Panicking, the other two looked for her but couldn't see anything but those two red eyes. Whatever it was, it began to roar which made the captive teen scream even more.

"Kon, get some light in here," Chad yelled before blindly charging at those red eyes. And with that, he disappeared in the shadows with his Brazo Derecha de Gigante flaring up—it did little for light, but then, that wasn't its purpose. The tall teen yelled to Orihime, "Keep screaming so I'll know where you are!"

Running to the door, Kon hoped that there was some kind of switch or something. Behind him, he could Inoue screaming still, then came the sound of Chad's blast, and whatever they were fighting's cry of pain. About then, the Mod-soul had reached the door but couldn't find anything that even resembled a switch.

"Run Inoue!" Chad yelled from the shadows. A few seconds later, Orihime was in line with the light from the hole and heading straight to Kon.

An intercom came on and Tessen's voice laughed over it, "It's FEEDING time! Lemme get the lights for you..." Instantly, the room lit up, right before the thing swatted Chad across the entire length of the room. His impact dented the wall, but he didn't give the thing a chance to strike again as he took off towards the open door with the others. Seeing that the door was much smaller—normal sized—they hoped it would at least slow down the monster, if not stop it. It slammed into the wall, clawed hand reaching for them through the door until the walls electrocuted it, forcing it to back off.

The three of them sighed in relief at the realization that the electrocution was meant to keep that thing locked up. Turning away from the growling monster, they jumped at the sight of all the robot soldiers in the new room, but then noticed that it was just a huge assembly line. They sighed a second time and continued on, walking at first before discerning the tower entrance.

"Jeez, you have some terrible luck... breaking through right into his room... That wasn't very nice," Tessen continued over the intercom as the group ignored him, "I originally didn't want to include him... but you've rather pissed him off so..."  
>The group froze when the power went out.<p>

A few spotlights came on, so they weren't in complete darkness, but it wasn't the darkness they were worried about.

"Damn, I really need to look into putting the Feeding Room on the backup generator sometime," Tomio sighed through the intercom just before the wall exploded as the monster ripped its way through it. "Never know when he might get out..."

There was a bit of laughter on the intercom before it cut out. Everyone got a good look at the thing this time as it slowly stepped forward into one of the spotlights. It was a Hollow. The beast-like Hollow was nearly as tall as a Gillian when it stood straight up. For some reason, it had lost the savage nature it had in the previous room. As it took each step closer, it looked more and more cunning, like it was planning something.

"I wouldn't want to see how big the Menos Grande of this thing would be," Kon gulped as the group back away slowly.

The Hollow began to laugh a horribly distorted laugh before speaking in a low monstrous voice, "I can't even remember how long it's been since I evolved into one of those... I'm an Adjuchas, fool..." He seemed somewhat disheartened by his own statement despite the group's startled reaction. Now they really regretted barging in the way they did and took off running as the Hollow let out a pleased growl. The three had barely made it anywhere before they could hear the monster charging at them.

Chad looked down at his armored arm and stopped instantly, knowing what he must do.

The others never slowed as their friend told them to keep running, and he charged the stampeding Adjuchas head on. A trail of energy flowed from his arm as he reared back to strike.

* * *

><p>Both Uryu and Akei stopped fighting and separated at the sound of the roar coming from the factory.<p>

"It seems your friends made it to the factory, and into our Hollow friend's room," Akei lowered the two Seele Schneiders as he looked toward the building, interested.

"You keep a pet Hollow?" Even the question sickened the Quincy; he did not lower his bow.

"I believe the word I used was 'friend'," The Captain glared, "The Adjuchas is a dear friend of ours... He used to be one of the gentlest creatures I knew..."

"Used to?" Uryu prodded. It was hard for him to imagine a Hollow being "friendly".

"Yeah," Akei seemed slightly hurt as he thought about it, "before Shuichi—Wait, why am I explaining any of this to you?"

There was no response to the question, Uryu didn't have one. Glancing over at the twins, he found them still sitting there, watching their brother's every move. They looked up to him. Uryu shook the thoughts out of his head, they wouldn't show him any mercy, and besides, there was more at stake than these siblings' feelings. This Tessen guy was obviously planning something big if he was making an army.

"I can't help but notice that you've managed to lead us to the beach, away from your friends," Akei overlooked the water longingly before continuing, "You don't think you'll beat me, so you widened the gap between us and your friends to give them a little more time, am I right?"

"Am I really so transparent?" Ishida gave a faint smile, "That's not a hard concept is it? Helping your friends, I mean..."

Looking away instantly, Akei mumbled, "Such a naïve statement." Then he lunged, swinging wide with both swords only to hit air. He then knocked away several arrows on pure reflex, then did a one-eighty and brought one of the energy blades down, barely missing his surprised target.

Without slowing down, he swung horizontally over his last attack, missing again, but then finished with a criss-cross strike that was just fast enough to scratch his foe right across the cut he made earlier.

Suddenly, Uryu vanished and Akei found himself slapping away at a never ending stream of arrows. As the Quincy upped the number fired, the Captain found himself unable to block all of them, causing him to retreat, but not without a few scratches himself.

Then it was Uryu's turn to retreat as he dodged the thrown Seele Schneider; however, as it passed him, he outstretched his hand backwards and hooked his finger in its loop and pulled it up to his bow—it's red color was swallowed by blue.

Akei was also posed the same, with his own bow out for the first time. As the two stared down each other, he spoke, "I honestly didn't expect you to do that. I am officially impressed."

"Why're you fighting?" Uryu ignored the compliment. He felt like he needed to get to the bottom of this. "What is Tessen to you?"

Akei gave a weary sigh, "I would say he's a friend, but that's not entirely true... The best way I can answer you is by asking you a question: How does a soldier escape war?"

Staring him down, Ishida gave no signs of wanting to answer. He knew what the Captain was going to say, but he didn't want to accept it even though he knew the concept quite well.

"He dies," Akei stated bluntly, "The only way out is to die."

Then something clicked, and it was like Uryu had known Akei his whole life, "and at the same time, you can't die. You have wrongs to right, people to protect, wars to win. You can't let something as selfish as death happen."

Akei nodded solemnly.

The two fired the Seele Schneiders, and the blades scraped each other and continued to their target. Shooting a normal arrow behind the sword, Uryu managed to knock it harmlessly into the air for him to catch. Akei on the other hand, grabbed the energy part of the Seele Schneider inches from his heart. Either one's energy changed the swords' color. The Quincy brought his up for another shot, but the fake Quincy let his bow dissipate.

"I feel bad for holding out on you," Akei shrugged. The armor on his right thigh opened, and he pulled out a short wakizashi that extended to a normal katana's length. Holding the blade out towards his opponent, Akei twirled the blade around upside down.

Underneath Uryu's feet, a circle of red energy formed.

Ishida's eyes widened as soon as he realized what it was. Using hirenkyaku, he barely escaped the column of energy as he cursed to himself. The Captain just used a bastardized version of Rukia's Sode no Shirayuki. He just couldn't believe it; not only did Tessen copy their powers but he even merged them. This guy worried the Quincy more and more.

"So what'd you think?" Akei grinned.

"I think I'm going to be sick... Quincy and shinigami in one? _Disgusting_," Uryu readied his bow once again. The Captain frowned at the response but didn't seem to shocked at it. "Can I assume that you have Kurosaki's power as well?"

Shaking his head, Akei explained, "That's what the grunts have, and I'm no grunt."

"Some redeeming quality at least. I'm sorry, Akei, but on the Pride of the Quincy..." Uryu vanished faster than the Captain could keep up with. He then let the tip of the Seele Schneider touch his head as the Quincy prepared to fire at point blank range, "... I must kill you."

Two arrows fired but neither were Uryu's.

Jumping away, Uryu dodged both of the twins' shots, but he was still upset that they managed to surprise him. He should've known that they would've tried to protect their brother. Dropping the Seele Schneider in a convenient loop in his belt made just for such an occasion, Ishida figured that he would need to save the blade for a guaranteed shot.

"What're you two doing!" Akei waved the two off angrily.

"Just shut your trap," Midori spat out.

"We're gonna help, Big Brother," Murasaki added.

Before he could protest again, the twins synchronized, "We can take him."

Uryu didn't like this one bit. Three to one was never a favorable ratio.

* * *

><p>Smashing through one of the assembly lines, Chad tried to regain his footing before the Hollow was on him again. He managed to rear back in time to sock it across the face hard enough to knock it away. Then it was his turn to press the attack as he leaped with his arm flaring for El Directo. The Hollow jumped away at the last second, tearing through the assembly lines in a desperate attempt to dodge before immediately retaliating with its huge clawed hand. Chad knocked the hand away, much to the surprise of the Adjuchas who's hand was about the size its opponent.<p>

Roaring, the Hollow lunged, mouth wide open in an attempt to swallow the teen whole. As its jaws closed at Chad, he grabbed either jaw to hold its mouth wide open. Struggling to snap its jaws shut, the Adjuchas began charging straight ahead, but Chad just slid across the floor, still holding the mouth open.

The monster let out a cross between a cry of pain and a hiss as its mouth stretched a bit wider than it was suppose to. Suddenly, the inside of its mouth began to glow red, right in Chad's face. The Hollow started laughing as Chad's arm flared, ready to strike. Desperately, he let go.

Both roared as they released their blasts.

The force of the explosion threw both of them apart with a thud. Chad's impact created a crater in the wall while the Hollow flipped over more assembly lines. The two sluggishly rose to their feet, more to let the other know they were still alive rather than to attack. Both were ready to charge again but for some reason they hesitated.

"Why're you attacking us? Are you after Shuichi?" The Adjuchas hissed.

"I don't know a Shuichi," Chad hadn't expected it to question him, but he needed a short breather from the fight. "We're here to save our friends that Tomio kidnapped."

The Hollow laughed absurdly, "Tomio would never... Not only is he too soft for such a thing, but he's been taking care of Shuichi... while he's sick... And I've known the Tessen brothers for a _long_ time. He would never lie to me."

"Shuichi is Tomio's brother?" Chad asked, buying himself more time.

Nodding, the monster looked pitiful as its eyes dropped, "Shuichi is like the glue that holds us together... You ever know anyone like that?"

Instantly, the teen thought of Ichigo. He really was what held them together. Chad couldn't let them take someone as important as Ichigo... He wouldn't...

Then Chad realized something else, and felt that he needed to ask, "You're close friends with Shuichi, aren't you?"

This made the giant Hollow slouch somewhat, "We're the best of friends... It's not that I'm not friends with Akei or the twins or Tomio, it's just that Shuichi is... different... If the rest of us are angels, then he would be our god. That's why Tomio is doing everything he can to help his brother, we _need_ him."

"I'm sorry, I truly am," Chad stood ready, "But my friend is up there, and I will only ask once: will you let me pass?"

The Adjuchas looked down at the teen, then toward the entrance to the tower. "No, you're confused. Your friend isn't up there. Only Shuichi... Wait, you _are_ after Shuichi! Tomio was right!"

Chad could tell his break was up as the Adjuchas slammed its clawed fist into the ground in rage. It honestly though that they were there to kill its sick friend. As far as Chad could tell, Tomio had been using his own brother's sickness to manipulate his friends, and this though made Chad clench his fist involuntarily.

He would make him pay.

"You know, you stink of Hollow," The Adjuchas stated as it popped its neck in preparation for the next attack. It stared down at Chad hungrily, "It's been _so long_ since I've tasted Hollow... I couldn't quite keep up with the Vasto Lorde quota after teaming up with Shuichi... probably my only regret, I can't even remember my name anymore since I un-evolved..."

"A Vasto Lorde teamed up with a human to fight Hollows?" Chad was a little shocked.

"Yes," The Hollow hissed, slightly offended before giving it a second thought, "Actually, Shuichi's not a normal human, he's a shinigami."

This shocked Chad even more. A Vasto Lorde level Hollow teaming up with a shinigami, then on top of that, the Hollow let itself un-evolve for the sake of staying with his friend. This Hollow was no longer the monster he thought it was. It was just someone desperate to protect his companions. Chad felt like he could no longer kill this Adjuchas, but he prepared to strike anyway. Ichigo still needed him.

The two ran at each other once again.

* * *

><p>The robot's face smashed between Kon's foot and the steel wall, and then he was off again. Orihime followed as best as she could, turning her head back everytime the two heard a crash below. They weren't sure if they should've left Chad, but Kon reminded her that Uryu would be coming to help any minute.<p>

So they pressed forward, up the tower.

"Where are all the soldiers? I expected a lot more once we were this close," Inoue thought out loud, but the Mod-soul was wondering the same thing. If he didn't know any better, he would've admitted that they ran into more of the robots outside the factory than inside. Tessen obviously wasn't making anymore, otherwise he wouldn't have cut the power like that, but even then, judging by the sheer size of that assembly room, there should be a whole hell of a lot more trying to stop them.

"They may be waiting for us up ahead," Kon replied, though not entirely convinced. They continued up by a spiral staircase for the next several floors, stopping for nothing and at the same time, having nothing to stop for. Finally, up ahead was a door with light shining under it, making the two run a bit faster. Kon instantly kicked the door open, expecting an army to be waiting.

In the middle stood Tomio and his bodyguard, Kansei.

The room was circular, spanning the whole tower's width. It was open with four large pillars holding up the next several stories of the tower, and a staircase on the opposite side led up. In the middle was what looked like a helicopter landing pad design, but there was no helicopter in sight.

"It's about time," Tomio snickered as the other two approached cautiously.

"This looks like where our transportation should be," Kon looked around sarcastically, "But where could it be?"

This made Tessen laugh, "You don't need it, silly." He lifted what looked like a detonator—making the two jump back. The teen laughed again then clicked the button and instantly, the sky surrounding the island shimmered away, revealing the true sky and Karakura Town below. The "island" was floating high above their town in the night air with the moon shining bright.

"You never left town," Tomio shrugged before turning towards the staircase leading up, "Follow me to your friends."

Neither Orihime nor Kon knew what to expect at this point, but after exchanged looks, decided to follow Tomio. They had only taken a few steps before Tessen stopped and looked over his shoulder at the two. Kansei hadn't moved.

"I meant Inoue," He added before continuing onward.

The two looked at each other helplessly before noticing Kansei's warning glare. "Okay, okay," Kon waved innocently before scooting Orihime on to follow the other, "Go get Ichigo, yeah?"

Orihime stared at the Mod-soul before throwing her arms around him for a hug.

Melting with delight, Kon spoke, "Go on, before you make me feel like this is gonna end badly."

And with that she was off, following Tomio.

* * *

><p>Overlooking the city, Uryu couldn't help but smile, "I'm starting to think you aren't the bad guys..."<p>

Akei seemed on the verge of tears at the statement, "You are the most... _naive_ kid I've ever known."

This threw off the Quincy, making him almost get hit by the column of energy. Before he could say anything, several more columns erupted which weren't hard to avoid but the twins had begun to release a barrage of arrows as well. It was getting harder to dodge their attacks. As their attacks increased in ferocity, Ishida found his patience in trying to understand them waning.

* * *

><p>The Hollow shrieked in pain when Chad punched it hard enough to slam it into the factory wall, and then it cried a second time when Chad's El Directo followed, launching it through the wall completely. Staggering outside, the tall teen stepped out hoping to find his foe knocked out. His widened at the fact that it was night. He could have sworn it was day when they reached the factory. Something else felt off too, but it was like the trees were in the way. He climbed up the wall of the factory and nearly fell over at the shock of seeing Karakura Town below.<p>

Suddenly, the Hollow's claws slammed into the roof of the factory, and it lifted itself to block Chad's view. Its eyes were glowing savagely and focused in on the teen.

* * *

><p>Following quietly behind Tessen, Inoue's thoughts were racing. She was almost certain that they separated her and Kon for a reason; however, she wasn't entirely convinced it was to kill her. It was like he honestly wanted them to reach Ichigo and Rukia.<p>

"There isn't really an army, is there?" She finally asked to break the silence.

"There is an army, but it is not here, and it is in no need of further upgrades. I just sent a handful of defected ones on the island," He explained, "I only said there was an army to make you move faster."

"If you wanted us here, then why not just bring us?" Orihime asked, confused at his plan.

"I still needed some time, and besides, I was bored," Tomio laughed, never turning to look at the girl as he walked up the spiral staircase. He continued, "I was watching, even though I said I wouldn't... Didn't want you to think I was a perv or something..."

After a few silent moments, Orihime reasoned that she enjoyed talking to Tomio more than walking in silence so she started thinking up more questions, "So how many people helped you build those robots?"

This made him stop. He turned to look her in the eye, "Just me. I build the computers, I built the machines that built the robots, I did _everything_."

Halfway scared at his reaction to her question, Orihime nodded quickly which made him chuckle before he turned back around and continued. As she tried to fathom how much this guy was capable of, she exhaled, "You're pretty smart, huh?"

"We'll have none of that gold-digger crap," Tomio snickered while the joke flew right over Inoue's head. He puffed out his chest, "The Tessen bloodline is renowned for our intellect. We've always made millions off of our inventions. Once father died, I inherited everything and went on to work with this... well... more on what _this_ is in a minute..."

A door split open and the two stepped through, causing the lights to come on. On the wall, in two separate capsules, Ichigo and Rukia slept. Orihime's face lit up instantly.

"There's something you have to do first," Tomio stated. Feeling like a kid who just had their candy snatched away, Inoue nodded. The wall in between the other two split open and another closed capsule rose out slowly, and then lowered onto the floor. The teen couldn't help but feel like it was casket. As soon as it was level, the capsule opened with a hiss. Inside was a fairly pale, skinny man wearing some type of tattered cloak from the waist to his knees; his whole arms and lower part of his legs were covered in the skin tight black armor like the robot soldiers. His chest and wrapped around to his back was also covered in the slick armor. He wore a helmet that hid everything from his nose and up, his silver hair stuck out in the back, and there seemed to be slits for his eyes. Orihime also noticed that he wasn't sleeping like the other two. He wasn't breathing at all.

"Who is he?" She couldn't help but ask.

Tomio hid his face, "This is my brother, Shuichi Tessen. Please revive him."

* * *

><p>Kon leaned against a pillar out of boredom as he watched Kansei stretch his arms rhythmically. Giving an annoyed sigh, he decided to at least speak with the bodyguard, "You know, I can't help but notice that you haven't said <em>one word<em> yet, and now you're stretching... won't lie, things are getting a little awkward..."

"What'd you want me to say?" He finally spoke, "Do you want to know why you and me are here and not following the others? Or do you want to know who I really I am? Or do you want to know what the master plan is? Or would you prefer I sing you to sleep?"

"All but that last one," Kon said absently as he watched Kansei. Something seemed off about him but somewhat familiar. As he watched him, the Mod-soul started wondering how good of a bodyguard this guy was. He had to have some kind of power because the guy was only about the same size as Ichigo, maybe a little stouter. His black hair was short and stood straight up in the front and top, while the back, just above the neck was longer but still straight, giving him a neck length mullet. Kon really did like his shirt though, solid black long sleeve with a flame design running up the outside of either sleeve.

"One at a time, yeah?" Kansei smirked before running toward the other, "I wanted to fight you!"

"Why?" Kan asked, slightly confused. The bodyguard made no attempt to slow down. Cursing, the Mod-soul kicked, but he easily dodged it, moving in for the attack. A second kick, however, forced him to block with his forearms. Kon's eyes widened, having expected to send the guy flying. It felt like he just kicked a steel beam. Not wanting Kansei to retaliate, Kon unleashed a flurry of kicks only to have them all blocked by his forearms. The Mod-soul did manage to slide the other guy back some distance though.

Kansei seemed disappointed as he spoke, "That's the best you can do? Here's the deal, until you inflict some real damage, you get _no answers_." Kansei relaxed a little, jumping back a few steps, twirling his wrists—the kicks were at least somewhat painful for him as well.

Kon launched himself in for the attack. After unleashing a chain of fast, weak kicks, he jumped overhead and released one painful roundhouse.

But something stopped the kick in mid-air.

Looking down the length of his leg, Kon's eyes widened at the sight of Kansei's hand around his ankle. His grip was unbelievable. Trembling slightly, Kon asked, "What are you?"

Throwing the Mod-soul into the pillar on the opposite side of the room, Kansei spat out, "No answers 'til I'm hurting!"

Kon slammed into the column, leaving an indentation, but was back on his feet immediately and charging. Kansei followed suit, but his speed was nothing compared to the Mod-soul's sprint. The bodyguard prepared to block any kicks as he ran only to be thrown off by Kon's sudden dropkick. Despite blocking the attack, Kansei was launched hard into a pillar. Laughing, Kon rose to his feet, surprised that he actually connected.

"I think I had that coming," Kansei snickered as he pulled himself out of the pillar. Standing up to look at Kon, he popped his shoulders several times, "So you wanna know _what_ I am?" Kon nodded. Knowing his enemy trumped knowing their master plan right now.

"I'm a Mod-soul," Kansei smirked.

Everything made sense now to Kon. It explained the familiar feeling, and he guessed that he had super arms as opposed to Kon's super legs. Kansei was obviously wanting to prove himself as the better Mod-soul. "Tomio must be planning on attacking Soul Society," Kon spoke, more to himself than to the other. He could see a Mod-soul aligning himself with someone like Tessen for the sake of revenge. If it weren't for Ichigo, even Kon might have considered getting that retribution.

"Don't know. Don't care," Kansei shrugged, "Tessen took me in, so I obey. It's as simple as that. He's never been one to share his plan with others... In all honesty, I hope you guys stop whatever he's planning. I've never been too fond of this group; they sort of just found me and stuck me in this dead guy's body and told me to be their friend. While I do have this inner urge to just _rip them all to pieces_... alas, I cannot... I _am_ grateful for what they've done, and I do value loyalty..."

"I think I liked you better before you could talk," Kon tensed.

Kansei frowned at the response but then shrugged it off. The two charged each other once again, this time both took turns attacking while the other dodged. Every couple of swings or so and one of the Mod-souls' attacks would actually connect; however, neither seemed able to outdo the other.

"When this is over, you should let me buy you a drink," Kansei laughed in mid-swing.

"Sorry, I don't drink," Kon spoke in between kicks.

"Bummer," Kansei sighed.

* * *

><p>"How long is this gonna take?" Tomio seemed impatient as he stared at Orihime as she stood over the orange shield healing as fast as it could. She shrugged. She honestly didn't know since she had never tried on someone who had been dead as long as this guy. Frowning, Tomio looked at Ichigo as he slept in the container.<p>

"You know, Ichigo reminds me of Shuichi," Tessen exhaled, "The whole _hero_ thing... Shuichi wanted to 'save the world'... The rest of us followed wherever he led, we wanted to help _so_ badly. He actually helped us more though. Shuichi also got his shinigami powers while still human, like Ichigo did... It wasn't long before he could break the most powerful of Hollows."

Orihime let her mind wander somewhat as she remembered Ichigo from when he first became a shinigami to recently in Hueco Mundo.

"And then we found him, stabbed and bleeding everywhere," Tomio spat in a mix between fury and remorse. The statement had thrown Inoue back into reality. "I tried for the longest time to keep him alive, but my machines can only do so much..."

Suddenly, Shuichi's hand shot up against the shield, pressing against it gently. Tomio's face lit up instantly as he leaned over with tear filled eyes. His brother was alive again. He place his hand over his brother's, but on the other side of the healing shield. Shuichi examined the shield around him as his eyes shot about before zoning in on his brother's face. Both brothers had streams of tears running down their faces. Even Inoue teared up a little.

Shuichi slammed his fist into the shield, shattering it so that he could sit up. Orihime started to protest, thinking that she should probably heal him a bit longer, but figured that they were going to hug or something. She didn't want to get in the way. Tomio wrapped his arms around his older brother, and Shuichi wrapped one armored arm around his younger brother. After a second or two, they released each other and stood up—Shuichi was a few inches taller. The older Tessen looked around the room, apparently not noticing Inoue at all, while the younger Tessen kept his head down like he wanted to say something but had trouble finding the right words.

"I've missed you," Tomio finally said, looking up from his locks of hair.

And then Shuichi stabbed him.

Orihime could only watch in horror as Tomio slumped on the sword piercing his stomach. "Wha—wha—why?" The younger brother choked on his own blood. A new set of tears filled his eyes.

"I was dead for a reason," Shuichi spoke calmly, "Don't you think if I wanted to live, I wouldn't have killed myself?"

"That's not true! You wanted to... to save the world..." Tomio struggled to breathe.

"The world? The world is nothing more than a whore," Shuichi slid his sword deeper, "She made me think she was worth saving, that there is something more to live for... I'm no hero... But then, this world doesn't need a hero. _Death is absolute_. I refuse to be an angel fighting for this world anymore! I will become Death itself if I have to..."

"W-when did you become so—" Tomio choked out before being cut off.

"Evil?" Shuichi interrupted in the same cold voice, "Anyone can see that simple truth if they just open their eyes. That having been said, I had _a lot_ of time to think in that period that you kept me alive..."

Tomio mumbled something.

"Speak up, you're a Tessen," Shuichi taunted. Inoue couldn't move, she was so frightened.

"Release Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki," Tomio spoke boldly with all his strength. Something beeped and either capsule opened slowly as gas sprayed inside. Glancing at the two, Shuichi looked back at his brother as if he didn't care. Then he slid his sword out and turned to the sleeping Kurosaki. His brother crumpled to the floor.

"Glow, Hotaru," Shuichi spoke. A ribbon of light twirled around his katana before vanishing, leaving his sword unchanged. "You messed with my zanpakuto too? Eh, I'm sure it works the same as it always did."

As Shuichi prepared to swing, Tomio began to laugh madly. His brother turned toward him, looking down at the pitiful teen bleeding everywhere, struggling to stand up. After a moment of just laughing, Tomio was on his feet, head thrown back, trying not to winch at the pain.

"You _dishonor_ our blood, Shuichi," The younger brother frowned, wiping the blood from his mouth, "_You are no Tessen_!"

There was a dull flash of light as all of Tomio's spilled blood flowed to his hands and then formed into a crimson double-edged sword. Tomio seemed just as surprised as Shuichi at it but lunged anyway, yelling the name of his power, "Edge of Blood!"

He missed.

This time, Shuichi's sword pierced right through his brother's heart, "You didn't have this power before... Guess it doesn't matter, a fool with power is still a fool." Tomio's sword lowered as felt his life drain away. He looked up into his brother's eyes as if looking for something besides just "death".

"Blink," A red burst of energy instantly traveled down the length of Shuichi's sword then shot, blowing a hole through his brother and the wall of the tower. He then kicked the body of Tomio out of the hole. Orihime covered her mouth as tears came to her eyes, she stared at the remaining Tessen, mentally yelling for the other two to wake up.

"You," Shuichi looked at the terrified girl, "You're the one who revived me, aren't you?"

Inoue nodded slowly.

"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo's attack blew away that side of the tower as jumped in front of Orihime with Zangetsu at the ready. Shuichi had dodged the attack with a simple side step and was now staring down the substitute shinigami. Glaring fiercely, Ichigo spoke, "I heard everything..."

"But you know nothing!" Shuichi instantly retorted before a set of black, steel wings exploded out of the back of his armor. Back flipping out of the ruined tower, he soared off toward Karakura Town.

Stepping out of her capsule, Rukia immediately dropped down to help Orihime.

"Rukia, Inoue," The orange haired teen spoke without looking away from Shuichi as he flew away, "I'm going to stop him..." Neither of them protested, and so he took off.

* * *

><p>On the beach, Akei froze instantly at the sight of some red blast at the top of the tower. "I know that attack... No... It couldn't be..." Upon seeing what looked like a body falling, Akei, Midori , and Murasaki all went wide eyed and took off without warning. Watching them disappear, Uryu looked up at the tower with curiosity. Then he saw what he thought was Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho and was off as well.<p>

* * *

><p>"Shuichi!" The Adjuchas exclaimed upon seeing the red blast from above. Sniffing once or twice, the Hollow grabbed the falling corpse before it hit the steel roof. Chad could only watch as the Hollow started shaking its head, trembling as it stared at Tomio's body in its hand, "No... No... No... Not Shuichi... Not him... He would never... He..."<p>

There was a second blast that Chad recognized as Ichigo's and then someone or something with jumped out and flew toward the town. Dodging the debris, Chad watched as the Hollow jumped off the factory and barreled off after the one flying away.

* * *

><p>The rumbling from above threw off the two Mod-souls, making them both look at each other for an answer.<p>

"Is it suppose to shake like that?" Kon asked, a bit worried. The other just shrugged. Something fell but neither saw it from the corner of their eyes. Then came another rumble and debris could be seen falling. The two ran over to the edge in time to see someone with black wings fly off toward the city.

"_Oh hell no_," Kansei face-palmed, "We have to post pone this. Go tend to your friends." And with that he backed up then sprinted toward the edge, slamming both hands down to launch himself. Confused, but also thankful that he could attend to Orihime and hopefully Ichigo and Rukia, Kon took off up the tower.

* * *

><p>Landing on the roof of the tallest building in sight, Shuichi overlooked Karakura Town with disdain. The whole world seemed set up before him just for his amusement. He wanted to make her pay. The world was evil.<p>

"Shuichi!" Akei appeared right before the twins. Glaring but standing unafraid, he knew something was wrong, "Where's Tomio?"

"He's here," A clawed hand hoisted the Adjuchas up as it opened its other hand to reveal the dead brother. The Hollow drooped at the sight of its dead friend; Murasaki patted it in an attempt to give some comfort.

Staring in disbelief, Akei took note of the hole in Tomio's chest, "That looks like your zanpakuto's doing..."

Kansei climbed up from nowhere but didn't have to see Tomio to know what had happened. He began popping his neck. Akei pulled out his katana and Seele Schneider, the twins readied their bows, and the Hollow clenched his empty fist. Each one was eager to finish off the remaining Tessen brother.

"So this is it?" Shuichi spoke calmly, "You've all come to the one you use to hold onto so close to your heart to fight? No... You guys don't want to _fight _me, you want to _kill_ me. You all really did follow me to the end. You are all here for the same reasons I am... _to die_!"

Akei, Midori, and Murasaki used hirenkyaku as the Hollow and the Mod-soul charged furiously.

"Blink," Hotaru's blast shot straight through the Hollow's head, killing him instantly. Then a second blast went through Kansei's stomach with enough force to throw him off the building. Ducking, Shuichi dodged Akei's sweep attack then both of the twins' arrows only to use his wings' wide span to slap Midori and Murasaki together. He then twisted around with his sword in a wide arc to kill, but instead was blocked by Akei's fake zanpakuto. Mustering all his power to protect his sisters, the pseudo-Quincy roared. Then his sword shattered, and Shuichi's zanpakuto sliced cleanly through him, slashing the sisters too. As the three dropped to the ground, Tessen spun around to block one more attacker. The force of the blow pushed him into the building slightly.

"No more, Shuichi!" Ichigo barked.

"You again..." The cyborg gritted his teeth under the weight of the attack.

Zangetsu's wrap started wrapping around Ichigo's arm, "Bankai." There was a small explosion of black reiatsu, followed by Shuichi thrown out and across the sky. He stopped himself with his wings to observe his adversary. The reiatsu dissipated, leaving Ichigo with a glare. Next thing he knew, Tensa Zangetsu was at his throat.

"You want to know 'why' don't you? " Tessen exhaled, as if annoyed.

"No," Ichigo's eyes were focused on Shuichi's. "Just no... Don't even speak... I have seen demons with more of a heart than you..."

"Have you—" His words were cut off by Ichigo's fist, effectively smashing his helmet in. Suffocating, Shuichi clawed to get the helmet off. Finally, he managed to pull it off to reveal his scarred forehead. Angrily, he stabbed toward the substitute shinigami's face, stopping just short of actually impaling him, but Kurosaki didn't even flinch at the feigned attack. Giving a mechanical growl, he murmured, "Blink."

Ichigo effortlessly slapped the blade to the side, causing the energy missile to whiz by his head.

With his fast twisting in desperation, Shuichi jumped away and screamed, "Ever Blink!" His sword released what seemed like a never ending volley of energy missiles. There was no way the teen could've dodged the attack.

"Getsuga Tensho!" The wave of black reiatsu blew straight through the other's attack and hit him directly to stop it. Once it cleared, Shuichi was still floating in the air despite having only one wing now. One whole side of his body was also horribly wounded, the armor destroyed. Cringing, he held Hotaru out defiantly.

"I am not afraid of you," Shuichi spat furiously.

This made Ichigo look down at Tensa Zangetsu, at his reflection in the blade. With heavy eyes, Ichigo replied, "I know." Returning his gaze to Tessen, he raised his hand over his face as black reiatsu gathered. Upon seeing Ichigo's vizard mask, Shuichi trembled a little but still held up his zanpakuto. "**Getsuga Tensho**," Kurosaki spoke in his distorted voice that only further unnerved the cyborg. This time, he twirled the energy around his blade.

Struggling to keep his arm steady, Tessen began tearing up. In front of him was his death, his end, and he knew it. He couldn't stop shaking. "No... I _am_ afraid..." Shuichi mumbled as Ichigo lunged at him. Tensa Zangetsu stabbed through his stomach, and he caught a glimpse of Ichigo's Hollow eyes before adding, with tears streaming down his face, "And I'm sorry..."

Black reiatsu swallowed the sky.

* * *

><p>"Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue shouted, bringing Ichigo out of his daze. He barely heard her yell "catch" before Chad flipped a burger from off the grill at him. Panicking, the orange-haired teen manged to hold out his plate in time. The patty landed perfectly on the bun, and he gave a sigh of relief.<p>

"Hey! I called the next one!" Kon protested—back in his stuffed animal—from Rukia's lap.

"Sorry," Orihime scratched her head as Chad prepared another.

"Ishida needs another!" Midori and Murasaki exclaimed from either side of the Quincy. Both were pressed up as close as they could squeeze, making Uryu blush from the attention. Hiding under the glare from his glasses, he was on the verge of holding up a "HELP ME" sign.

"I'll take the next one," Ichigo smiled, handing his plate down to Kon. Chad gave a thumbs up to acknowledge the request. Looking around for a minute, the substitute shinigami walked off to find Urahara in his shop.

"You sure you don't want another body?" Urahara asked Kansei as he slid on a white T-shirt.

"Nah, I'm sentimental towards this one," The Mod-soul explained as he walked out with a wave. The sight of him stung Ichigo a little in that he was sorry that they couldn't save everyone. Slapping the teen's arm on the way out, Kansei gave an "everything's alright" smile before joining the rest. This gave him some comfort.

"So how's the search going?" Ichigo asked, propped up against the door.

"Well, we managed to destroy the barrier Tessen put around Karakura Town that cut us off from Soul Society, but even with their help, we haven't been able to locate this 'army' of his," Kisuke put his fan away, "We can't even find the actual factory that he supposedly created this army with. None of them know, and none of his data stored in that fake factory has helped. I suspect the entire thing was a bluff. I think all his resources had been used up while trying to keep Shuichi alive."

The last statement made Ichigo look away.

"Something on your mind, Kurosaki?" Urahara prodded.

"It's just that in a way, Shuichi was frightening," Ichigo crossed his arms as he thought, "The way he had killed his brother and friends, the way he snapped under all the pressure from his friends relying on him, the way he blamed the world for not changing no matter how hard he pushed... it was unnerving to see all of that and then see our similarities. His last words were, 'I'm sorry'... and at that instant, I could see his eyes telling me, _warning_ me against dwelling in it all like he did... against giving up. His eyes told me to never stop fighting."

Hearing the others yell for him, Ichigo ran off to rejoin his friends.

Urahara sighed, fanning himself, "I don't think you'll ever have that problem, Ichigo Kurosaki."

**_THE END._**

_ Character Theme Songs:_

_Murasaki and Midori... Untouched by The Veronicas_

_Akei... Scream Aim Fire by Bullet For My Valentine_

_Unnamed Adjuchas... Solitare Unraveling by Mushroomhead_

_Kansei... Dead Memories by Slipknot_

_Tomio Tessen... Evil Angel by Breaking Benjamin_

_Shuichi Tessen... In The Shadow of the Valley Of Death by Marilyn Manson_

**_Thanks for reading._**


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